[Womensnet_News] New this week at Women'sNet

Mon Mar 26 16:47:51 SAST 2007

     /\*/\*/\*/\ Take a byte out of gender injustice /\*/\*/\*/\

                 ****New this week on Women´sNet****

New items added to the Women´sNet website. To view all news items go to 
http://womensnet.newthisweek.shtml

Girl´sNet Coordinator Lerato Legoabe, is participating in the Media and Children 
Fifth World Summit where she is representing Girl'sNet. For more information on 
the summit go to http://www.5wsmc.com/

To get your event/job or news listed on the website and in this email (at no cost) 
please email: women at womensnet.org.za or intern at womensnet.org.za

*****************************NEWS*********************************
To see all news Items, go to 
http://womensnet.org.za/news.shtml

03/26/2007 - Gay organisations unravel the Civil Unions Act 
Behind the mask

A few weeks ago saw the Civil Unions Act being scrutinized further by the lesbian, 
gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) community, in which the 
community perceived as polemic. Organized by Out in Africa (OIA) and Constitution 
Hill, the seminar, accompanied by vibrant renditions of dancers and musicians, 
delved into issues like that of allowing marriage officers refusing to wed gay couples 
on the grounds of conscious belief, and also it emphasised on the problem of 
having the Civil Unions Act instead of the Marriage Act.
..................................................................... 
03/26/2007 - Free software meets the media 
www.tectonic.co.za

The Free Software & Open Source Foundation for Africa (FOSSFA) is to host a 
five-day workshop for African free software developers and media workers. The 
workshop, to be held at the Kofi Annan Center for Excellence in ICT in Accra, 
Ghana, will run from April 23 to 27. The workshop is co-hosted by the Economic 
Commission for Africa, the Open Society Initiative for West Africa, the Ghana-India 
Kofi Annan Center for Excellence in ICT, L'Association de Presse Panafricaine, the 
Meraka Institute, the University of the Western Cape, IDC, and Panos London. 
..................................................................... 
03/26/2007 - Floppy disks will soon be a thing of the past, study shows 
Highway Africa News Agency

The personal Computer's (PC) oldest friend - the floppy disk is slowly fading away 
and will soon be history in the digital age. As the world embraces new technological 
advancements, the global demand for the device will be completely wiped off, 
rendering the device useless and inefficient. Early this year, PC World said it would 
no longer sell the storage device, commonly known as floppies, once the existing 
stocks run out. The company now advocates for the use of alternative and more 
efficient storage devices such as USB memory sticks, commonly known as "flash 
disks". UBS for Universal Serial Bus is a protocol for transferring data to and from 
digital devices. 
..................................................................... 
03/26/2007 - New Study Shows Gender, Race Imbalance on Children´s Programs 
Feminist Majority Foundation

A study conducted by the See Jane program -- a project of Geena Davis and Dads 
and Daughters -- found that children's movies and television programs lack 
prominent female characters and characters of color. The study, titled "Now You 
See 'Em, Now You Don't: Gender and Racial Disparity in TV for Children," analyzes 
the ratio of male and female characters and characters of color in children's movies 
and television shows. Researchers at the University of Southern California coded 
and analyzed characters in over 1,000 children´s popular TV shows and movies. 
..................................................................... 
03/26/2007 - Africans to learn from the Commonwealth e-partnership summit in 
India this week 
Highway Africa News Agency

African Commonwealth countries are expected to attend the inaugural meeting of 
Commonwealth ICT ministers and industry experts taking place in Delhi this week. 
The ministers will discuss five key areas of ICT development including policy and 
regulatory capacity, modernising education and skills development, 
entrepreneurship for poverty reduction, promoting local access and connectivity, 
improving regional networking and local content and knowledge. 
..................................................................... 
03/26/2007 - First Group of Female Judges Appointed 
GAIN

The Egyptian government´s appointment of the country´s first group of female 
judges is a welcome step toward ending discrimination against women in the 
judiciary, Human Rights Watch said today. Before the Supreme Judicial Council 
appointed the 31 female judges on March 14, the only sitting female judge in Egypt 
was Tahany al-Gebali, who was appointed to the High Constitutional Court in 2003 
by presidential decree. The new female judges are expected to be assigned to 
courts by the end of the month.
..................................................................... 
03/26/2007 - South Africa: Study Finds Young Women are More at Risk From HIV 
All Africa

New research on the rate at which HIV is spreading through the South African 
population has found that young women have a higher risk of contracting the 
disease than young men, writes Nozipho Dlamini. The Human Sciences Research 
Council (HSRC) released a study Wednesday indicating that the incidence rates 
among young women of childbearing age was especially alarming. The study is 
published in this month's edition of the South African Medical Journal. Director of 
the HSRC's programme on the Social Aspects of HIV and Aids and Health 
Research, Thomas Rehle, said HIV incidence among women between 20 and 29-
years-old was 5.6 percent.This is six times more than in males of the same age 
which is 0.9 percent.
..................................................................... 
03/26/2007 - Civil Society and Local Government E-Society in Uganda 
GAIN

An e-society uses digital information and communication technologies such as 
computers, the Internet and mobile phones but in combination with more traditional 
ones such as radio and paper publications to strengthen constructive interaction, 
collaboration and services between government and citizens. The expectation of e-
societies is that they will lead to improvements in areas such as governance, 
democracy, efficiency, and economic competitiveness. A successful e-society is 
normally based on the traditional structures in place in the `real world: The 
relationships and 
interaction between key stakeholders such as local Government, Civil Society, 
Faith-based organisations and other groups.
..................................................................... 
03/26/2007 - Content Regulation & Censorship 
GAIN

Content regulation is one gesture away from censorship and surveillance practices. 
The tension between managing content that could potentially result in harm towards 
a section of the population (e.g. spam) and silencing of viewpoints (e.g. lesbian 
issues) is not an easy one. While we were preparing this edition, women´s rights 
advocates - both male and female - in Iran sent out a solidarity call to bloggers to 
help disseminate information about their "One Million Signatures Campaign". 
..................................................................... 
03/26/2007 - CISCO Academy Sustainability Award 2007 
GAIN

Makerere University Department of Women and Gender Studies: East Africa 
CISCO Academy Sustainability Award 2007. The Department of Women and 
Gender Studies Makerere University Cisco Academy was declared winner of the 
East Africa CISCO Academy Sustainability Award for the year 2007. The certificate 
of excellence was awarded to the Department at an annual CISCO Academy 
conference held at Nairobi from March 13-15 2007 at Strathmore University.

..................................................................... 
03/26/2007 - Nigeria: Minister Calls for ICT for 'Every African' 
All Africa

A Nigerian minister has urged African leaders to increase access to information and 
communication technology (ICT) -- but his country's own scheme is floundering 
because of inadequate government support. At a meeting in Johannesburg, South 
Africa, last week (16 March), Frank Nweke, Nigeria's minister of information and 
communications, called for access to cheap ICTs for every African citizen in line 
with the objectives of the New Partnership for Africa's Development.

*****************************NEWS*********************************
To see all news Items, go to 
http://womensnet.org.za/news.shtml

Conference of Rectors, Vice-Chancellors and Principals (COREVIP) 2007 
Libya | Association of African Universities | Deadline: 3 May 2007 

The Association of African Universities is organising its biennial Conference of 
Rectors, Vice-Chancellors and Presidents of African Universities (COREVIP) under 
the theme: "The African Brain Drain - Managing the Drain: Working with the 
Diaspora". The Conference will be held in Tripoli, Libya, from October 21 - 25, 
2007, and will be hosted by the 7th of April University, Libya. The AAU is calling for 
abstracts. 
..................................................................... 

West Africa Gender Project Manager 
Monrovia, Liberia | International Alert (IA) | Deadline: 30 March 2007 

Based in Monrovia, Liberia with frequent travel to Guinea and Sierra Leone, 
occasionally within the region and to Europe and North America. We are looking for 
a Project Manager to implement a new gender and peacebuilding project in the 
three Mano River Countries, in line with UN Security Council Resolution 1325. The 
project will work closely with and support women's organisations doing 
peacebuilding in the three countries, and strengthen the links between local, 
national and international initiatives. 
..................................................................... 

Specialist on Women's and Youth Entrepreneurship 
Geneva, Switzerland | International Labour Organisation | Deadline: 15 April 2007

The Specialist on Women's and Youth Entrepreneurship is located in the Small 
Enterprise Team of the Job Creation and Enterprise Development Department, 
which is part of the Employment Sector. The Small Enterprise Team is responsible 
for ILO's work on job creation and growth through small enterprise development and 
capitalizes on several decades' experience in research, policy advocacy and 
technical cooperation. 
................................................................... 

IARD Vacancies 
Jakarta, Indonesia | International Agency for research and development | 

The mission of The International Agency for research and development (IARD) is to 
help communities around the world address environmental, economic, and social 
challenges to build a better future shaped and shared by all.
IARD focuses on social-economic development in countries through projects 
,research and contributions. Projects in countries are focused on activities that 
support economic development and reduce poverty (improve the social conditions.) 
The objective is to facilitate development; enable and empower societies by skill 
development in management, leadership, knowledge, technologies, and businesses 
that leads to sustainable long term social and economic development. And to do it 
all with charity and volunteer commitment of experts.
We are now recruiting qualified individuals in the following positions to fulfill our 
setout goals. 
..................................................................... 

Project Officer - Knowledge Communications 
Ottawa, Canada | IISD | Deadline: 6 April 2007 

The International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), is an organisation 
that provides a variety of multimedia informational resources for environment and 
sustainable development policymakers, including daily coverage of international 
negotiations, analyses and photos. IISD invites applications from suitably qualified 
individuals for the position of Project Officer - Knowledge Communication in 
Ottawa. The successful candidate will support the initiatives of its Knowledge 
Communications programme. 
..................................................................... 

Thohoyandou Victim Empowerment Trust Vacancies 
| Thohoyandou Victim Empowerment Trust | Deadline: 20 April 2007 
Thohoyandou Victim Empowerment Trust (TVET) is a non-profit Trust based in 
Sibasa, Limpopo, with a vision to generate an attitude of zero tolerance towards 
rape and domestic violence in the Thulamela Municipality. We wish to appoint, on a 
1 year contract: Young Perpetrators Programme Co-ordinator. 

***********************Calendar of Events*****************************
To see all the listings for the calendar, go to:
http://womensnet.org.za/calendar.shtml

04/25/2007 - 04/28/2007 Conference on Internet governance, Conference, USA 
SANGONeT

The event will commence with reception and dinner on 25 April at the Clinton 
Presidential Library. Private tours of the Library will be provided during the evening. 
Sessions on 26 April will be devoted to public policy issues and will be held at the 
nearby University of Arkansas School of Law. Sessions on 27 and 28 April will deal 
with legal issues. The program is co-sponsored by the University of Arkansas 
School of Law and the Clinton School of Public Service.
..................................................................... 
04/17/2007 - 04/20/2007 Science Journalists´ Conference, Conference, Australia 
SANGONeT

Science journalists and editors worldwide are invited to participate in the 5th World 
Conference of Science Journalists. The conference, which will be hosted by the 
Australian Science Communicators in partnership with the Australasian Medical 
Writers Association, is aimed at maintaining and expanding a global network of 
science journalists to enhance the quality of science reporting.
..................................................................... 

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     /\*/\*/\*/\ Take a byte out of gender injustice /\*/\*/\*/\

                 ****New this week on Women´sNet****

New items added to the Women´sNet website. To view all news items go to 
http://womensnet.newthisweek.shtml

Girl´sNet Coordinator Lerato Legoabe, is participating in the Media and Children 
Fifth World Summit where she is presenting go to www. For mor information.

To get your event/job or news listed on the website and in this email (at no cost) 
please email: women at womensnet.org.za or intern at womensnet.org.za

*****************************NEWS*********************************
To see all news Items, go to 
http://womensnet.org.za/news.shtml

03/26/2007 - Gay organisations unravel the Civil Unions Act 
Behind the mask